A
smoking pipe from western Riverside County, CA. Although
the lower flange of this ceramic pipe has broken away, half
of the drilled hole remains, suggesting that such pipes may
have been carried hung around the neck. (ca 1600 AD)

Arrowpoints,
such as this translucent chert specimen, are often referred to as
"desert side-notched." Small, finely-made arrowheads
like these are often found in late prehistoric or proto-historic
sites in southern California, dating to after 1000 AD.

Occasionally,
excavations reveal buried artifact "features"
(top). If relatively undisturbed, features such as this
cobble stone and groundstone collection, give researchers a
glimpse of the original layout of a site, perhaps revealing
activity areas. Lower photo shows each artifact that made up
the feature. Dated to the first millenium A.D.

Although
the use of machines in archaeological excavation is not unheard
of, maintaining precise level by level digging control with a
machine is another matter. Here, a Case Uniloader is shown dumping
artifact bearing soils from a controlled trench excavation into a
large screen (left). Recycled water is then used to wash the sandy
soil through 1/8th inch mesh screen (below)--small enough to catch
tiny artifacts such as beads.

Seemingly
too small and fragile to have survived hundreds of years
unprotected, this shell bead was recovered from an inland
California site (note penny for scale). Carefully shaped and
drilled from a section of an olivella
shell (a tiny sea snail) it shows that art and decoration were
valued by prehistoric peoples. Marine shell beads, such as this
one, were traded over great distances, having been found as far
inland as the Colorado River.

Crescentic
chipped stone artifacts are rare finds. This one, recovered
from a Los Angeles site, is about 3 inches across. Made of
Monterey chert this unusual specimen somewhat resembles a bear.
In many parts of ancient Europe the use of metal
crescent-headed spears and arrows are well documented. However,
the use of this interesting artifact is unknown. It is thought
to date within the first millinium A.D.

Stone
bowls and pestles were used to process various types of foods,
from seeds and roots, to meat. Shaped from hard granite rock,
this bowl is roughly 8 inches across.

Typically,
artifacts at most archaeological sites are buried within a
site deposit referred to as "midden." Middens are
generally created by windblown dirt, organic residue, carbon
and ash from decades of campfires and human occupation. But
sometimes the sites themselves get buried by geologic forces
such as landslides or siltation. Here, the field crew used
machines to remove over 12 feet of overburden just to reach
the uppermost layer of the site.